Aero and driving mods for Volvo 240 Wagon 34 mpg

[ademonrower]

Car: Volvo 245 GL, late 1979, with B21A gasoline motor (carburetor), 107 bhp, manual transmission with ONLY 4 GEARS!

Latest results (long run): US mpg 34, or UK mpg 41... (6.9 liters/100 km), yes, it is possible

Here are my "physical mods" - see also the uploaded picture:
- Front lip (standard 240 one)
- Sheath going from front lip to the plastic under-engine pan, thus closing most of this gap, and reducing turbulence - made myself
- A-pillar sheaths, made from curved-section PVC, painted and attached via custom fittings under the rubber seal of the windshield, and on a convenient thread-point in the A-pillar itself, where the radio antenna used to be :-)
- Sheath bridging gap between front-edge of gas tank and the front edge of the rear bumper, thereby closing this gap, and reducing significant turbulence because of the bumper. Made of aluminium D.I.Y.
- Flow-extender mounted on the tailgate (tricky D.I.Y., but managed it, and the solution is actually quite easy - advice availabe on request :-) ) This, and the previous, mod probably makes the most difference: extends flow so that turbulence occurs further removed from the back window pane, therefore less suction and hence drag.

Tyres: 185/80 14C, with 3.0 bar pressure

Driving style: long run with mixture of country roads and motorway, always doing pulse and glide where possible, particularly down-hill. Motor still running when gliding, because I don't have a vacuum cylinder mod to charge up for the servo braking, and I can't foresee making one.

Note, all the physical mods are very sympathetic to the classic nature of the car, and really do it a service. The front and back spoilers look so natural that all of the 245s should have been fitted with them :-)

So, whaddya think? :-) Lemme know!

[aerohead]

To the un-trained eye, your color-matched mods will probably pass as 'OEM' structures. And at 34-mpg, the 'old girl' is exceeding the mpg of some current crossover utility vehicles, which have obsoleted the 'station wagon' / 'shooting brake.'
Good for you, good for us!